Books Make Life Better

A true story teller

2008-07-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

Not long ago, some friends who read my blog emailed me to ask if I only read serious stuff based on what I have been posting about. The answer is no and this book is proof of that! I pretty much read anything that doesn't get out of my way and the only thing I don't read on a regular basis are sci-fi and westerns. Lately I've been reading a lot of fantasy/paranormal type romantic suspense/mystery paperbacks that I get through Books Free. I love this service because it saves me a ton of money and lets me try lots of different authors and genres and I can send the book back if I don't like it - without feeling guilty about how much money I spent and that I didn't read it!

I love reading series and one I've been reading is by Marjorie M. Liu. I just finished the third book in the series, Red Heart of Jade, and it was excellent. Ms. Liu is an amazing storyteller and she seems to be getting better with every book in this series. I know there are some out there who consider mass market paperbacks and romance type authors as inferior but they should get outside their boxes more! This was a very well crafted tale with great characterization, an exciting storyline and a very well crafted plot that did not fall down in the middle or end too quickly. I am finding so many of today's romance lacking a good plot/story line and authoers are filling in with lots of sex in the hopes that we readers won't notice. Now I don't mind a good sex scene but never at the expense of a good plot, fully formed characters and a quality product. Ms. Liu definitely delivers for me! Maybe you should get out of your box and try one of her books too!

SRC - Book Two

2008-07-13T10:08:00.001-07:00

gods in Alabama was my second book for the Summer Reading Challenge.

Oh did I love this book. This is a first book as well but I found it much better written than my previous choice. It too is a story about going home and reconnecting with family. It is the story of a woman who fled her home town in Alabama as soon as she graduated high school, believing she had killed someone. She promised never to have sex and never to tell a lie again if God would just make everything okay.

She has created a new life in Chicago and only had contact with her family by phone over the last 10 years. She is content with her life, having fallen in love with a good man . Into her life drops an old high school peer and everything changes. In order to head off what she believes will be a catastrophe in the discovery of her secret, she heads home to Alabama with her boyfriend in tow. She is justifiably anxious about her return, fearful her secret is going to be exposed and what will happen when her relatives find out her boyfriend is black.

By alternating chapters, the author provides the backstory to Arlene's life as well as what happens when she returns home. I loved the use of this technique and was just amazed at this author's talent and voice. I truly felt the "southerness" through the quirkly family characters, sayings and descriptions. An amazing book with a great ending, showing that no matter what, family is the most important thing in life. I can't wait to read this author's additional books.

I've got one more to go with this challenge so stay tuned!

Souther Reading Challenge Progess

2008-07-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finally managed to finish two of my three selections for Maggie's Southern Reading Challenge. I enjoyed both but the second one (see post above!) is my favorite so far!

The first book I read was Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen and it was chosen by me as my book group's July discussion book before I even signed up for the challenge. Very convenient!

When I think about describing this book to someone, the words "light and fluffy" come to mine. It is the story of the Waverly women who live in Bascom, North Carolina. They are all gifted with a special talent and have a magical apple tree that grows in the garden of their ancestral home. If you eat an apple from the tree, it shows you your future - good or bad - so the Waverly's have done their best to prevent anyone from eating the apples.

Sydney Waverly comes home to Bascom after being away for a number of years, bringing her daughter Bay. She and her sister Claire have been estranged and the story focus on the gradual rebuilding of their relationship as well as the blossoming of both of their lives into something more. It explores the sense of place you have within both a family and a place.

While I enjoyed the book, I felt there were too many character lines to follow to give the book meatyness. I think it would have been much better if the author and narrowed her focus a bit and more fully developed just a few of the characters. And I just didn't find this book very Southern feeling to me. All in all, it was an enjoyable read by a first time author. I plan to get the author's latest book out of the library as I've been told her writing is much better developed with this.

Sense of Place Contest

2008-06-16T18:18:00.001-07:00

Maggie is running another contest for the Southern Reading Challenge involving a sense of place. I knew immediately what passage I would choose - from gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson.

Arlene is talking about a local "make out" place at the start of the book:

The woods, mostly scrub and loblolly pine with a few sycamore and oak trees, ended on the hilltop. There was a little grassy clearing where you could spread a blanket and get on with it. The clearing ended in a track of gravel at the lip, and where the hill started its descent on the other side, the heaps began.

"Heaps" was our name for kudzu, a fast-spreading vine that climbed anything it could find and turned it into a shaggy, amorphous mound. The heaps had eaten the woods in the pit at the center of the ring of hills, creeping over the ground, coating the trees. They formed piles and climbed up themselves when nothing else was offered. In some places they loomed up higher than the hilltops. Roach Country, Clarice called it. Roaches love to nest in kudzu.

I found the photo at this website - kudzu is a really scary plant! Be sure to check out the photos in the Kud - Zoo!

Southern Reading Challenge Update

2008-06-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not exactly on track but I am doing some Southern reading. It seems once I made my list, all these other southern books have been popping up in my library stack. While I have started gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson, I've not gotten that far because I was sidetracked by Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews and Flabbergasted by Ray Blackston.

Deep Dish is the lastest book by Mary Kay Andrews and I guess I'd call it a cooking romance. The two main characters both have small regional cooking shows in Atlanta and are pitted against each other in a "cook off" for a national cooking show similar to the reality shows you can see on the Food Network and Bravo. Regina Foxton takes traditional Southern cuisine and makes it healthier while Tate Moody catches whatever he cooks. In a fairly traditional story, boy and girl end up together and cook up their own show. The book includes some traditional southern eccentrics and some pretty tasty sounding recipes. A great summer each read for sure but not necessarily my favorite Andrews book. I think I like her first two the best.

Flabbergasted was an audio book that I chose for the cover colors and the title with the intent of having something to "read" while I was knitting. The back cover blurb on the CD case really didn't provide much info and for a number of CDs, I wasn't sure I was liking the story as it dragged on a bit. It is written by Ray Blackston and tells the story of a young stockbroker who moves from Dallas to South Carolina.

In order to meet some singles in Greensboro, his real estate agent suggests he join a church singles group. He ends up at a Presbyterian church where he falls for a young church missionary in the singles group. Over the course of a beach trip to Myrtle Beach during Labor Day weekend, Jay gets to know Allie better and forms a more solid friendship with the other singles in the group. It's a humours piece of Christian fiction that turned out to be quite entertaining, giving a good message without being preachy. I loved the author's ability to bring me back to Myrtle Beach and Pawley's Island as well as paint a small slice of missionary life in an Ecuadorian village in the rain forest through his descriptions. My library doesn't have the next book in this series (I think there may be three?) but I will see if it can be ordered. I feel the need to know the rest of the story....

Playing Catch Up

2008-05-26T16:25:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to grow grass and scrape my porch stairs this week - two very laborious processes. While I move my sprinkler around every 1o minues, I've managed to squeeze in brief bits of reading that have resulted in the completion of two books . Neither of them were one of my Southern Reading Challenge books but I hope to start that this week. Gotta finish my book group book first though! I'm a lousy book reviewer but I will do my best.

Last Sunday I finished Garrison Keilor's Pontoon. As usual he manages to create a varied collection of "unique" individuals from Lake Woebegon and weave together a very entertaining story. The conclusion had my laughing so hard I was in tears which doesn't happen to me very often. I could so picture the complete chaos he was describing it was incredible.

I also read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. This was an extremely interesting book and I think I will have to see if my library has his other book The Omnivore's Dilemma. The premise of the book is that as a result of "nutritionism", the FDA, the marketing industry and other scientific entities (just to name a few) we've gotten away from eating "food" as a result of focusing on nutrients - antioxidants, omega-3s, etc. In our quest to eat "healthy", we've gotten so confused by all the various claims and counterclaims of assorted diet fads and nutrition recommendations that have not really resulted in making us healthier. Pollan's premise is that the "western" diet most of us eat is actually worse for our health than if we ate traditional diets our ancestors did - a Mediterranean, Asian or other ethnic culture. I found the book very thought provoking.

Name Your Homeplace - Casapearl

2008-05-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

Maggie has a contest going related to naming your homeplace. This is Casapearl. She is a 1920 California Craftsman bungalow on Pearl Street. I bought this house three years ago and almost immediately named her Casapearl and that's how I always think of her.

She is my refuge in a town I don't always like living in but I love my neighborhood. No matter how bad a day I've had, there is a relief to pulling into the driveway and knowing I'm home. She has windows in every room which means tons of light and gorgeous hardwood floors throughout. Not a huge yard but enough to keep me busy. The kitchen is short on countertops and electrical outlets but funky isn't always a bad thing!

And the porch.... what can I say? I fell in love with the house just walking up onto that old porch. Even when the house looked like this! I knew she had to be mine. I plant the window boxes every spring and sit out on the porch knitting or reading when it gets warm. I decorate her for fall and for winter. She's a jewel box and probably the most perfect house I will ever own.

She's allowed me to feel at home in my town and to get to know my neighbors all along my street - a very unusual thing in today's world. Last year the woman who grew up in her stopped to take a little tour. She left me with the original architectural blueprints for which I am extremely grateful. I will leave them with her next owner and take a copy to someday maybe build another just like her. She is my dream home - Casapearl.

The Library at Night

2008-05-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

One of my strongest childhood memories is going to the library and it's a pleasure that has never really grown old. The anticipation of what you might find on the shelves continually lures readers in. I recently picked up The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel. I used to have a copy of his book The History of Reading but it's either been donated or lost - I never got around to reading it but would like to someday.

I was lured into this book by both the title and the photo on the dust jacket - isn't it neat? This book is an exploration of various libraries throughout history including ones the author encountered in his own life as well as the one he created at his home in the south of France. It was a pleasurable read and I enjoyed learning about the histories of the various libraries around the world. Many no longer exist but the writing allows you to imagine what they might have been like. The author is formidably well read -a bit intimidating in a sense but the bibliography allows me hope that I might expand my horizons a bit by tracking down some of the books he mentions. A worthwhile read if you're a library fan.

Southern Reading Challenge Choices

2008-05-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I've decided on what my three books will be for the Southern Reading Challenge which starts on Thursday.

1. Gods in Alabama -Joshilyn Jackson
2. Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen -this is actually my book pick for my book group in July
3. Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes - Cathy Holton

I got Gods in Alabama in the mail yesterday from Booksfree so I'm all set to start reading on Thursday.

Y'all its summer southern reading time!

2008-05-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

I've been hoping that Maggie was going to host another Southern Reading Challenge as I really enjoyed participating last year. I did read three southern books but didn't finish my final one until after the time frame had passed. I plan to do much better this year!

So far I know my first book will be Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson. Now I've got to find two more to add to my summer reading. Maggie has provided several excellent suggestions so I'll have to see if my library has any of them.

Procrastinating

2008-01-09T16:33:00.001-08:00

Instead of starting my next book group book, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin, I picked up Queen of the Turtle Derby and Other Southern Phenomena by Julia Reed. This was one of my selections for the Southern Readers Challenge that I did not finish in time but still wanted to read. It's a collection of essays celebrating all that is the uniqueness of the South. I'm really enjoying the selections but it makes me miss living in the South. I hope there's another Challenge this year!

Finished The Ha-Ha

2008-01-05T19:08:00.000-08:00

Well, tonight I finished The Ha-Ha by Dave King. I am looking forward to our book group discussion on Monday evening - everyone always has something to say. I loved this book! Dave, if you stop again, I do hope you're working on another!

This was a book where I got hooked on the main character right away and it was a bit bittersweet and a bit funny sweet but very satisfying all the way. I loved the author's style and felt like so much thought had gone into crafting it. This was a book that made me think of some of the unconventional "families" we form in our lives as well as how easy it is to turn away from those things that keep us going everyday and potentially make some bad decisions. It is a reminder to me of how open and expansive life can be if you stay open to possibility and remember what a gift life truly is. This is a book to savor and I highly recommend it. I will be passing my copy along to my sister as a recommendation for her book group.

Next up is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Morgansen.

2007 Book Tally

2008-01-03T18:49:00.001-08:00

I keep a notebook list of all of the books I read throughout the year and this year's total read was 54 - a pretty respectable total compared to last year's 37. In looking back at the list, I read some really good books, some not so great and some that were just fun.

Good ones - Highest Tide by Jim Lynch, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides

Not So Great ones - A House for Mr. Biswas by VS Naipul, Sons & Lovers by DH Lawrence and Lunch at the Picadilly by Clyde Edgerton

Just Fun - the JR Ward vamp series, the Mercy Thomson series by Patricia Briggs and Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai.

These are completely subjective categories of course because the VS Naipul & Lawrence books are from the Modern Library List so they're not really "not so great books" it's just ones I didn't enjoy as much.

I'm trying to finish up my next book group book before Monday's discussion. We're reading The Ha-Ha by Dave King which so far is going on the "good ones" list for 2008.

Where's the southern part?

2007-07-16T17:11:00.001-07:00

Well, I started reading Lunch at the Picadilly and I have to say, I'm not really enjoying it. For one thing it just doesn't seem to be very southern in flavor - definitely not as identifiable as the Faulkner I read before. I am not sure that I want to keep reading - maybe the time should go to finding another Southern read to replace it? I am going to give it another try tonight and maybe it will hook me.

Finished Faulkner!

2007-07-10T16:01:00.001-07:00

Well, I stayed up late and finished As I Lay Dying. I really enjoyed the book and it ended with a trademark quirk. Some of the the end was a bit disconcerting - Darl getting arrested for arson I never saw coming and poor Dewey Dell and her quest for a solution to her "problem". Anse comes out the best of the lot in the end - another classisc instance of God providing for him! LOL I have to say I'm become a Faulkner fan and I never thought I'd say that!

This is my first completed read for the Southern Reading Challenge - now it's a debate between Queen of the Turtle Derby by Julia Harris or Lunch at the Picadilly by Clyde Edgerton. I think Lunch is going to win!

Maggie, thanks for the TAB hint - it worked!

2007-07-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

For some reason, Blogger is not letting me put titles in tonight so I'll just leave that be.

I was going to title this post "As I Lay Dying" because that's what I'm reading right now. I must say it's different from The Rievers, the only other Faulkner novel I've read but I am really enjoying it. Faulkner has such a unique style of writing yet you get a fully formed picture of the characters and the land. The Bundren family is certainly an interesting clan and I'm finding the story flows despite the fact that each chapter is told from a different person's point of view and is sometimes only one sentence or just a stream of consiousness narrative.

I love this passage from Tull, the Bundren's neighbor's POV, which takes place on the porch outside the Bundren house after Addie has died and the preacher has come to hold a service. The men are outside talking:

"What's Anse so itching to take her to Jefferson for anyway?" Houston says.
"He promised her," I say, "she wanted it". She come from there. Her mind was sent on it."
"And Anse is set on it, too," Quick says.
"Ay," Uncle Billy says. "It's likea man that's let everything slide all his life to get set on something that will make the most trouble for everybody he knows."
"Well, it'll take the Lord to get her over that river now, " Peabody says. "Anse cant do it."
"And I reckon He will," Quick says. "He's took care of Anse a long time, now."
"It's a fact," Littlejohn says.
"Too long to quit now," Armistid says.
"I reckon He's like everybody else around here," Uncle Billy says. "He's done it so long now He cant quit."

Progress Update

2007-07-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finished Silent Spring by Rachel Carson which was quite a sobering book to read. It deals with the impact of pesticides and their effects on both nature and potentially people. The scarey thing is that it was written in the 60s and I wonder if we're not seeing the results of all those pesticides now.

As of July 1, I know of 6 people who have been diagnosed with cancer since Christmas. That is pretty frightening. I think Rachel Carson's message is as relevant today as it was 4o plus years ago and corresponds to all of the concern over global warming. We can't mess with nature and not expect to have something happen.

Now I'm on to As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner - my first Southern Reading Challenge book. I'm enjoying it so far.

Summer Reading Challenge Update

2007-07-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I managed to finish two of my Challenge books in June - The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Neither of these was particularly uplifting reading but I am glad I read both. Next up is As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner which is a double entry - for the Summer Reading Challenge and for the Southern Reading Challenge.

Finished My First Summer Reading Challenge Book!

2007-06-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday night I finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I'm not sure what to say about this book but here are some random thoughts:

Oprah picks the most depressing books ever
I can see why it won the Pulitzer Prize
What could ever be in someone's mind that they would write a book like this?
What does this say about current society that I could picture this happening?
This book will stay with me for a very long time

I think I am the first from our book group to have read the book and I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks on July 9th. I'd love to hear what others who've read it think as well.

Mid Week Progress

2007-06-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

I finished The Highest Tide on Sunday - just in time for my book group discussion on Monday night. I have to say I enjoyed this book just as much the second time around as I did the first. Of the 7 people present for book group, only 2 of us really liked it. Ah well, it's on to The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I've also made a little bit more progress on Silent Spring and started into The Memory of Running by Ron McClarty which I think is going to be enjoyable.

Southern Reading Challenge Books

2007-06-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

Well, all three of my book choices for the Southern Reading challenge have arrived and I'd really like to start all three but I must finish rereading The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch as the book discussion is Monday. I'm also continuing to read and enjoy The Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. I'm not sure which of my souther books I will start. I'm tempted to start with As I Lay Dying by Faulkner as technically it is probably the "hardest" read.

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

2007-06-03T17:43:00.000-07:00

I've started reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson as my first book for the Summer Reading Challenge. I'm also rereading The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch. I first read The Highest Tide in February and it was chosen as the May choice in my book group so I'm rereading it. It was the catalyst for my wanting to read Silent Spring as the young boy in the book is a huge fan of Rachel's.

I got my copy at the used bookstore in town and it is copyrighted 1962. What's quite frightening is that only 30 pages in, her topic is still so relevant - the devestation of our environment at the cost of man and the effects of DDT and other pesticides on our environment. I was very surprised to learn that she died of breast cancer.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Silent Spring. This Wednesday, I will be visiting here as part of United Way Day of Caring work crew to help get the place in shape for the 100th year anniversary of her birth. It's funny how life is such a series of connections isn't it?

Finished Just in Time

2007-06-01T18:04:00.001-07:00

Last night I finished The Mixquiahuala Letters by Ana Castillo just in time to start reading for the SRC 2. I saw this on BooksFree and the name and premise intrigued me - a story about the relationship between two Chicana women told through a series of letters. Each letter has a number and the author gives you three options for reading through them, leaving out some chapters, rearranging the order, etc. Being the type A person I am, I read them straight through which was not one of the options recommended by the author!

The back of the book states "Controversial and pioneering, The Mixquiahuala Letters is widely studied as a feminist text on the nature of self-conflict, and is considered an essential work of Chicana fiction". I'm not sure what I thought of it - sometimes I just like to read something different. The author is a poet and some of the letters are poems which was interesting. I'm glad I read it but I don't think I'd recommend it.

I had planned to start my summer reading with Rachel Carson's Silent Spring but I found The Road by Cormac McCarthy on the new book shelves at the library today so I am going to start that. Who knows, I may start both of them!

Summer Reading Challenge 2

2007-05-31T14:45:00.001-07:00

I have once again joined the Summmer Reading Challenge hosted by Amanda. I've also decided to incorporate the Southern Reading Challenge into my SRC 2 reading. I decided it would be much easier to have a separate blog to track my progress hence "books make life better"!

The SRC 2 kicks off tomorrow and here is my reading challenge list. I plan to start with Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.

I have three books to read for my book group:
The Road
Water for Elephants
A House for Mr. Biswas

and three others from my TBR pile:
Everything is Illuminated
Chocolat
Silent Spring

and my three books for the SouthernReaders Challenge:
Lunch at the Picadilly
Queen of the Turtle Derby
As I Lay Dying

At three per month, I think this is a pretty doable list!